28mm Sci-Fi Goodness - "Frank's Toybox"

Painted test models of Frank Hammond's amazing 28mm sci-fi troops

As I wait for more bases and hope for a lost shipment of Peter Pig stuff to hopefully appear (thanks for that, Canada Post and People's Pharmacy - incompetent clowns, but anyway...) I am taking another little fun side project: some new 28mm infantry from Frank Hammond.  These are near-future sci-fi troops and are the nicest 28mm sci-fi models I have seen in a long time.

The goodies arrived in no time at all...

I came across these via a TMP posting earlier this month, and loved the look of them immediately.  You can read about the genesis of these models here on Frank's Blog, (you can purchase them there too) but suffice to say it is the opposite from the plague of Kickstarter panhandling that is sweeping the hobby. He basically knew what he wanted, got them sculpted, and you can buy them too if you want. How refreshing.

Some of the troops waiting for the basing goop to dry

You can see the SAW gunner in the front row here - not my favourite style of MG, but the models are still awesome overall

Of course style preference is hugely subjective.  There are many people who do not care too much for "near-future" sci-fi, finding it too close to modern troops of today.  But if you like that "period" (and I am a huge fan), you will love these models.  They are the closest thing I have seen in 28mm to Khurasan's outstanding 15mm "Nova Respublik" troops.  The armour is cool, the weapons are cool, the poses are solid and the sculpts are outstanding.  These are what the 40k plastic Cadians should have been - lightly armoured but without the "special school" helmets and shoulder pads mixed with steroid-boosted bulk the current plastic Cadians bring with them.

AT launchers and sniper rifles

More riflemen waiting for the "goop" to dry before getting a coat of primer

As I wish the 40k Imperial Guard looked like this, I want to paint them in the blue scheme similar to that of my Rogue Trader era guardsmen.  They can serve as Imperial Guard proxies, or represent a mercenary regiment in our Spacekrieg period, playing either our home-made rules or Tomorrow's War.

Test model 1 completed, beside a similar model waiting for primer

This is not a huge collection of models - a variety of rifle-armed poses, an officer with a communicator or scanner, a trooper with an AT launcher, and a trooper with a SAW-type weapon, together with a rifle-armed trooper carrying an extra ammo load for the SAW.  There is also a trooper with a sniper rifle.  The SAW trooper is maybe the one model that I am not totally wild about with this collection - I have never been a fan of the standing MG-style rig (but I know it is popular generally).  But it still looks pretty cool...

Rear view of test model 1

To make these "40k legal" I have ordered some custom bases with sabots that will allow me to mount the SAW as a two-man "heavy weapon team", while the models themselves remain individually based for the other, more sensible rules sets (i.e. any other rules).  I will probably use the AT launcher as a proxy grenade launcher in 40k, and an actual light AT missile launcher in the better games.

In an actual 40k game this will lead to a shortage in terms of variety of troops and special weapons, but in my experience playing Guard in 40k the infantry are largely irrelevant, with success riding on what your vehicles can manage. Accouterments such as standard bearers, medics and other superfluous bits end up as diversions and wastes of points on the table.

When I first received the models, I thought they were huge - but clearly I've been doing too much 15mm recently, as you can see in this comparison photo they sit just fine on the 28mm spectrum - with more realistic proportions to boot

The first two painted test models

Frank says on the blog that he is hoping to have more figures done.  I can only keep my fingers crossed and hope that happens - but of course it takes a long time.  Perhaps someone can figure out a way to Kickstarter some more sculptors and casting companies out of the ether.

In the interim, I may attempt some conversions - the AT launcher model might be a candidate to end up with a kind of lascannon, while there may be some way to replace some of the rifles with flamer-type guns or melta-type guns.  But it's not a huge priority, or a huge worry.

The models are "light" - no big back-packs, which makes sense - you would probably leave them in the APC...

The extent to which I can manage to make these models "legal" for 40k is really secondary.  After all, 40k is a generally terrible set of rules, and we have so many other "periods"/rules where these guys will be able to play, and I look forward to getting them on the table sometime soon.  And if you like near future sic-fi, give these models a look - you will love them.

Kickstarter - I STILL just DON'T care

Figures on the way ASAP I'm SURE....

As the Kickstarter panhandling continues to pile up on TMP, I was going to mount another theraputic vent, further to this guest post I shared on Curt's blog recently.  But this Gawker story underlines the superflous absurdity of Kickstarter perfectly, and why I can't wait for the trend to flame out and leave the hobby alone....so why double up? Go read the Gawker story instead, and keep it in mind the next time you see a panhandling Kickstarter project appear as some kind of legitimate "news", as though it will really happen, on TMP.

IDF Infantry and APCs in 15mm

IDF Mechanized Infantry ready to defend the Golan Heights

Some more progress on the Golan Heights Project - some IDF infantry and APCs.  The models are from Peter Pig.

Peter Pig's IDF infantry is meant for Lebanon.  In 1973 the IDF troops mostly used SLR-type assault rifles, as opposed to Galils and M-16s that became common in Lebanon.  QRF does offer Israeli infantry, but having seen the quality of their other infantry offerings, I wanted to stick with Peter Pig. So that meant some head swaps were in order!

For this I was following the advice of Mark Kinsey, who has been very helpful and has been pursuing his own projects related to the Golan Heights and Lebanon for some time (see his blog at this link).  Assuming you can navigate Peter Pig's bonkers website, they offer a whole sweep of alternate heads for their figures! It's brilliant.  This way I could use the "professionals" from Peter Pig's AK47 range (models armed with SLRs) and swap out their cloth caps for heads with US-style helmets.

Who replaces heads on 15mm figures? I do!

The head swapping is really pretty easy - you need good nail clippers, a pin vice and you are in business.

The replacement heads sat pretty well for the most part

These models are "Professionals" from Peter Pig's AK47 Republic range - with swapped out heads

Here are some of the LMGs

Another view of the LMG gunners

For this initial round of IDF infantry I tried to approximate a couple of squads of guys - some LMGs, some NCOs, a few officers.
 

These NCOs are from the Lebanon range, but the head-swap worked pretty well, and the M16 is not too visible

For officers I used NCOs from the IDF Lebanon range (again, swapping out the heads).

These officers are actually WW2 US figures...they fit in pretty well

The M1 is pretty visible on the fellow in the middle, but I can live with it

To represent platoon-level officers I also poached some WW2 US models.  They fit it in OK - only one or two M1 carbines are clearly visible to give things away :)

A pair of bazooka teams for the IDF

I also used the WW2 US models for bazooka teams, as there are several reported instances of IDF bazooka troops making incredible stands against Syrian T-55s and T-62s.

Peter Pig M113s waiting for primer. I love all of the MGs on the model.

The M113s are from Peter Pig's Lebanon period.  There are probably one or two things that would make them technically not correct for 1973, but I thought they were close enough.  The IDF still made significant use of the M3 half-tracks in 1973, but one of the armoured infantry battalions on the Golan in 1973 for the Syrian surprise attack was equipped with the M113s, so I thought it would be good to start with a couple.

A finished M113 with infantry

I painted these using the same paint combo as my second go at the Centurions

I struggled assembling the M113 models.  You would think they are pretty straight forward, but I still found a way to make it complicated...I love painting, but I'm not a very skilled or patient modeller!  Still I think they turned out OK, although one of the M113s looks like it had some kind low-rider modification for a Saturday night cruise here in Winnipeg.

This view gives a good shot of the weathering powders at work...also how much I struggled to get the tracks on correctly! It looks even worse in person...

So now it is back to more Syrian tanks - T-62s to be specific.  Further progress beyond that will be limited - Canada Post returned my recent Peter Pig shipment AFTER telling me they would hold it.  So the local Canada Post outlet can ROT.  Peter Pig is watching for the returned package (sent two weeks ago) but there is no sign yet, so the pathetic incompetence of Canada Post will slow this down...

Syrians In September - More Infantry and T-62s

It has been a few weeks since I have posted any progress on my Golan Heights Project, but I haven't forgotten about it.  Here is some progress to hopefully prove it.  Again, apologies in advance for the pictures - whatever its merits, the iPhone sucks for miniature photography, and the lighting in my house does not help...

Up first are a group of Syrian infantrymen.  These are from Peter Pig's AK47 modern line, and the bases are from 15mm.co.uk.

Peter Pig "regulars" from their AK47 Republic range

Minimally equipped troops, but they will do the job for representing Syrians.

Colour references to Syrian uniforms for 1973 are universally absent, so I just made a best-guess

These troops will be ready to fight for the Golan heights

I added a few special weapon troops as well - two RPG troopers and two RPD MG gunners.

Two RPGs on the left, to RPD MGs on the right

And another pair of T-62s from QRF.  I now have 8 T-62s, almost enough for a company.

Two more T-62s ready to roll...

I was amused to note this thread on TMP, posted in august following my original commentary on these models, in which the proprietor of QRF miniatures manages to position each flaw (and there are many of them) with the QRF castings as somehow important to doing a proper model.

The back ends of the T-62s from QRF are a cloud of flash and mold lines....very poor quality on these castings. 

Not sure why Peter Pig, Battlefront and others can manage to a proper, in scale MG that isn't cast with the quality of a limp spaghetti noodle, but QRF can't.  But again, the QRF T-62s are really the only game in town for this particular MBT, and the flaws are annoying more than critical.

Up next are some infantry and APCs for the IDF.  Stay tuned!

Rogue Trader in the Modern Age - 40K battle report

Last night Conscripts Greg, Mike F. and Brian came over for a game of 40K sixth edition with a retro flavour - my Orks vs. Greg's Imperial Guard. The retro-ness comes from the models we use - Greg's Guard are the original RT Perry twins plastics with updated weapons, and my Orks are all RT metal models, with a couple of exceptions. We teed up a game at 1500 points... 

Here's what 1500 points of RT Orks looks like in sixth edition...

Dakkajet, Deff Dread, Wartrakk squadron, Trukk (captured Rhino) and at right, a battlewagon from Puppets War. I call this a "conversion" since the gun jutting out over the ram plate is from the Ork boyz boxed plastic sprue ;-)

Ork infantry. Clockwise from centre left: Warboss Thrugg in mega-armour, 5 Meganobs, maob of 20 boyz, mob of 20 boyz, 5 Flash Gitz, 10 Stormboyz with Nob.

We rolled up a random scenario - Crusade - and a deployment mode. Unfortunately for me this meant deploying on the short sides of the table. Five objectives were placed and the game began - here's my initial deployment - the battlewagon is carrying 20 boyz and the Boss and Meganobz are in the Trukk.

Here's what we were facing - ouch. Lots of Chimeras plus a Leman Russ and Basilisk. Valkyries are off-table...

Looking OK so far... this would change shortly...

Stormboyz popped over to take cover behind the Imperial bastion. So far so good.

Chimeras advance...

Wartrakks scream out from the Ork lines and race towards the enemy...

I love this model. So... Orky :-)

Fighta Ace appears on Turn Two to spread Dakka love. Note the distinct lack of Stormboyz behind the bastion. They got lit up by Guard autocannons and lasguns, thought better of their enterprise, and fled the table without firing a shot. The first turn also saw the Meganobs' Trukk immobilized and its weapon destroyed, and the Basilisk landing large templates with unerring accuracy on the mob of boyz in the woods near the Ork lines. First Blood to the Imperium.
 

Now the Guard Valks appear while the battlewagon careens towards the Imperial lines. The Meganobs and Boss are on foot making their way forwards. More large templates land on the boyz in the woods (Hood?). They lose heart and also run away. One wartrakk has been destroyed at lower right (flames just visible in shot).

Battlewagon before the calamity.

It's destroyed by Imperial fire and goes up in a flaming explosion. Several boyz are killed and the rest bail, only to all be killed in a single shooting phase - again without firing a single shot. This was becoming an all-too-familiar pattern...

In the Ork turn, Flash Gits and Wartrakk with twin-linked rokkit launcha makes scrap out of a Chimera. Passengers disembark.

Another Chimera is wrecked by the Meganobs in close combat. Once these guys got stuck in they were unstoppable!

"Woot!"

After more Imperial shooting cleaned off the Flash Gits and Trakks, the only Ork units left were the Meganobs, Warboss, Dakkajet and Deff Dread. So we called a "Waaagh!" and rushed them all forward into close combat. The Dakkajet flensed the Guard command squad (but failed to kill the commander, drat!) and the Meganobs and Boss comprehensively annihilated the Guard heavy weapons squad.

Even the Deff Dread got into the act and wrecked a Chimera.

"Humies all dead. We win, right?"

Well... wrong. Although the Victory Points ended up only 4 to 1 for Greg, the game wasn't that close at all. Greg scored 3 VPs for holding one objective and 1 for "First Blood". The Orks scored 1 for having a unit in Greg's deployment zone ("Linebreaker"). However, the Orks had no Troops left after about turn four, and only three viable units remained in total - one of which was a flyer. Yes, the Orks are hard as f@ck when they get stuck in, but slogging across four feet of table to do it was not ideal. We'll try it again (the spectacle is too cool not to) but I think that next time I'll take more boyz, and maybe try to eliminate pesky Basilisks before they destroy my entire army ;-)  Oh, and the short bus from Puppets War looked totally cool, I think I will create a blog post dedicated to that project with some more photos this weekend.

***BEGIN TRANSMISSION***

***TO__ DATABASE 45324-A CHARADON SECTOR CENTRAL***

***FROM__ IMAGIST SECOND CLASS NYRAN KRUMP***

 

 

 

Thanks to Greg for the fantastic propaganda images!